Lufia & The Fortress of Doom

RPG retro adventure game with huge world to explore; fight a variety of enemies; collect a number of allies; turn-based combat.

The story of Lufia & the Fortress of Doom begins, in accordance with an ancient prophecy of the Lufia world, with a massive floating island with a large castle located on it emerging into the sky one dark day. Dubbed the “Fortress of Doom”, this castle served as the base of operations for a group of all-powerful beings known as the Sinistrals, who planned to use their strength to bring the world to its knees.

In response, the people sent four of their bravest warriors: Maxim, Selan (“Serena” in Estopolis Denki), Artea (“Arty” in Estopolis Denki), and Guy, to infiltrate the dark fortress and destroy the Sinistrals before they could do any harm. The game begins with the player controlling these characters as they prepare to engage the Sinistrals, and eventually defeat them. However, after the battle, the fortress begins to collapse, with Maxim and Selan becoming trapped on the other side of a deep chasm that forms when the Sinistral throne room splits apart. Unable to teleport them to safety, Artea and Guy leave the falling island alone, and their trapped allies apparently perish when it crashes into the earth below.

Peace reigns for ninety years after the heroes’ encounter with the Sinistrals, and the actual game is set nine years after that. The story is told from the perspective of a red-haired boy the player is in charge of naming, and along the way he gets caught up in a struggle to save the world once again from the newly emerged Sinistral army.

Playable characters

“The Hero”: The primary character of the story that the player gets to name. He grew up in a small town of Alekia and was raised by a man named Roman, a friend of his father (who had died in a battle long ago). Very skilled in swordplay, The Hero prefers to fight in close quarters, and wears heavy armor, though he does have some degree of magical skill, usually healing and defense spells. He is said to be a descendant of the great hero Maxim who vanquished the Sinistrals and saved the world.

Lufia: The Hero’s best friend whom he has known since childhood. She is bossy, but proficient in spellcasting. She has a romantic interest in The Hero and helps him in any way she can. She fights with wands and other lightweight weapons such as flails and even frying pans. Lufia utilizes Thunder, Water and Explosion magic as well numerous support spells.

Aguro: Leader of the army of the nation of Lorbenia, Aguro is a hardened warrior who is interested in the Hero’s fighting ability. Having no skill in magic, he instead relies on his brute strength and skill with swords, axes and lances. He, like the Hero, can equip heavy armor to increase his defense.

Jerin: A half-elf who, because of her heritage, has an increased lifespan and actually appears younger than she is. Agile, and good with magic, Jerin prefers to fight at a distance, using either a bow and arrow or wands in combat. She is proficient with Fire and Ice magic and is a master of healing.

Battle mode

Starting characters

At the start of the game (introduction):

Maxim: The primary character in the prequel to Lufia and the Fortress of Doom. His past is much like “The Hero”‘s present with certain variations.

Selan: Maxim’s wife, Selan is a very powerful magic user but is not as strong with melee attacks.

Guy: Guy is a longtime friend of Maxim who has no knowledge of magic himself but is physically the most powerful character.

Artea: An elf who can attack all targets with his bow and has a decent amount of magic. Artea lives through both comings of the Sinistrals due to the long lifespan of an elf.

Non-playable characters

The Sinistrals: A group of four powerful, god-like warriors who plan on taking over the world. From their floating Fortress of Doom, they gathered their strength, only to be defeated by Maxim and his friends years ago. Their ranks include Gades, Master of Destruction, an over-bearing and proud warrior clad in dark armor; Amon, Master of Chaos, a resourceful man who wears gold armor and wields a trident; Erim, Mistress of Death, who can revive any of her brothers if they fall in combat; and Daos, Master of Terror, their leader, an incredibly powerful sorcerer. However, due to a mistake, in the English version Daos and Amon have their titles reversed. Daos is the Master of Chaos (Infernos in the Dutch Version), while Amon is the Master of Terror; this is the only game in the series where this localization error occurs.

As Always, Good Luck and Have Fun.

Controller to Keyboard Mapping:

Only keyboard is required to play. Pretend your keyboard is the a game controller. Check the controller setting by clicking the "Set Up Keyboard" button at the bottom of the game. A console-to-keyboard mapping will be displayed, for example, a - Z, mean "a" button on console/joystick is equal to Z key on your keyboard.

Start/Pause = Enter

Default Mapping

Inside The Game

Your Keyboard

Move/D-PAD =

[W],[A],[S],[D] on Keyboard

A, B, X, Y Button =

[J], [K], [I], [L] on Keyboard

L, R Button =

[U], [O] on Keyboard

START, SELECT =

[Enter], [Space-Bar] on Keyboard

You can change the controller to whatever you want.

SAVE progress anytime to your local computer and come back later and load it up by using the "Save State" and "Load State" button at the bottom.